German Pzkpfw IV Ausf.J Medium Tank 00921

The Panzerkampfwagen IV (Pz.Kpfw. IV) Sd Kfz
161, commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in Nazi Germany in
the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its
ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 161.

Designed as an infantry-support tank, the
Panzer IV was not originally intended to engage enemy armour—that function was
performed by the lighter Panzer III. However, with the
flaws of pre-war doctrine becoming apparent, and in the face of
Soviet T-34 tanks, the Panzer IV soon
assumed the tank-fighting role of its increasingly obsolete cousin. The most
widely manufactured and deployed German tank of the Second World War, the
Panzer IV was used as the base for many other fighting vehicles, including the Sturmgeschütz IVtank destroyer, the Wirbelwindself-propelled
anti-aircraft weapon, and the Brummbärself-propelled gun, amongst others.